First lady: President Obama has quit smoking

Associated PressIn this Nov. 18, 2010 file photo, first lady Michelle Obama, center, is Joined by New York City Police Chief Raymond Kelly, second from left, as she speaks to children while promoting her "Let's Move!" exercise initiative at the Police Athletic League Harlem Center in New York.

"Yes, he has," the first lady told reporters at the White House when asked whether her husband had finally done what millions of Americans can't seem to do and quit smoking. "It's been almost a year."

She said she didn't know exactly when he quit "because he never smoked a lot" and she never saw him light up.

The issue of Obama's smoking last surfaced in December, when press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about it and said he hadn't seen Obama smoke in nine months. That would have put Obama's final puffs somewhere in March.

At the time, Gibbs stopped short of asserting that the president had quit outright. But the president's wife was a bit more direct Tuesday.

"He's always wanted to stop," the first lady said, explaining that daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, 9, are getting to an age where he wants to be able to look them in the face and deny it should they decide to ask him whether he smokes.